Mail-bag



W. HAWN.

MAIL BAG.

(No Model.)

No.259,309. PatentedJune 13, 1882.

Homey UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. k

WILLIAM HAWN, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

MAlL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,309, dated June 13, 1882.

Application filed April 27, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WTLLIAM HAWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MaiLBags; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ot the same, `reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and tigures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a perspective view of the upper portion of the mail-bag constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being closed and locked Fig. 2, a similar view, showing the bag open ready for filling and the lock removed; and Fig. 3, a plan view ot' the lock with the casin g removed to show the interior construction.

The present invention has relation to that class of mail-bags provided at their mouths with four metal bars or plates hinged together at their ends, so that when extended they will form a rectangular or nearly square opening at the mouth ofthe bag to facilitate lling the same, and also the closing of the bag by folding the hinged plates or bars together. These bars or plates being of metal, it was necessary to employ hinges in connecting them together, so that they could be extended or closed at pleasure. One of the many objections to the use of metal hinges is not only the additional expense attendin g the manufacture of the bag, but the great liability of the hinges becoming rusty from continued exposure to wet weather and broken or otherwiseinj ured byrou gh handling of the bag, thereby rendering the hinged bars or plates difficult of closing or opening, besides the metal bars or plates greatly increasing the weight of the bag and making it laborious to handle.

The object, therefore, of my invention is to entirely dispense with the metal bars orplates and the hinges ordinarily used, wherebylightness, durability, and cheapness are the result; also, in providing a locking device capable of being detached from the bag when opened, rendering it unnecessary to have a lock permanently attached toV each mail-bag. These severalobjectsI attain by the construction sub=I stantially as shown in the drawings and hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a mail-bag, preferably of leather, provided with the usual handles, a b.

The bag A,atits open end, is re-enforced by riveting or otherwise securing thereto sections B and sections C, formed of several thicknesses or layers of leather, said sections, when eX- tended, as shown in Fig. 2, forming together a rectangular openingor parallelogram.

The sections B, as will be noticed, are somewhat shorter than the sections G,the latter being formed at their upper edge with inwardlyextended dan ges c, which are horizontal or at right angles to said sections, and of'such width as to cover the total thickness of the bag when closed, as shown in Fig. l. When the bag is open the iianges c will be diagonally opposite eachother, and are about two-thirds thelength of the sections C, or sufficiently shorter, so that when the bag is closed the two lianges will make a continuous covering throughout the width ot' the bag. The contacting ends of the ilanges c are beveled, as shown at d, so as `tofpermit the sections to come together with a employed are entirely dispensed with and made unnecessary,and consequently there is no danger of the sections becominginoperative by the rusting of the hingesor therbecoming broken or otherwise injured.

The employment of the leather sections not only materially decreases the weight of the bag and enables it to be more conveniently handled, but it is less liable to become broken or injured by the breaking or bending of the sections, as would be the case were they of metal. l

ICG

A further advantage is the greatly-reduced cost with which the bag can be manufactured, it being much simplerin construction, and the flanges c being on the two sections opposite each other, instead of upon the sections at right angles to each other, as in the hinged metal. sections heretofore employed, or, in other words, the flanges being parallel to or opposite each other, instead of at right angles, there is not as much movement of the sections required to close the bag, and when it is closed it is much more secure. and less liable to be tampered with.

Projecting into the bag A is a notched bolt, e, suitably fastened to said bag, and upon the outside of the same, or to one ofthe sections C, is fastened a plate, D, conntersunk to form a seat and guide, f, for the base-plate of a snitable lock, E. This locl; may be of any suitable construction that will operate in connection with a suitable bolt projecting from the inner side ofthe bag.

I have simply shown one form of loci; to better illustrate my invention, the same consisting of a guide-plate, g, between which and the base-plate of the lock the free ends of piv oted arms 7a work, held in engagement with the notched end of the bolt e by curved spring i, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the bag is opened the lock is detached or removed therefrom. Hence it makes it un necessaryr to have a lock permanently attached t0 each mail-bag, and the countersunk plate serves -both as a seat and guide in placing the lock in such position that the notched bolt readily penetrates the lock and fastens in it, thereby' securely locking the bag closed.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iss

1. A mailbag having four sections ofleather connected to its sides around its open end, substantially as shown, whereby the material from which the bag is composed between the ends of the sections will operate as hinges iu.

closing the bag, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A mail-bag having leather sections secured around its sides at its open end, substantially as shown, the intervening spaces of 5o the material from which the bag is composed serving as hinges in opening and closing the bag, two of the sections having overlapping flanges which cover the mouth of'said bag when closed, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a mail-bag, the combination, with the leather sections B, of thc leather sections C, formed with or having flanges c diagonally Opposite and parallel with each other when opened, the sections B C being of such length and connected to the bag, as shown, that theV material composing it or the leather of the bag between the ends of the sections will operate as hinges in opening and closing the bag, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a mailbag, thecombination, with the bolt e and plate D, countersunk to form a guide and seat, f, of a suitable lock, E, removable therefrom, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence ot' two witnesses.

VILLIAM HAWN.

Witnesses:

H. W. WooLF, W. W. MoKowN. 

